1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for attaching a component to a substrate. In particular, the present invention relates to a horizontal socket for attaching an electronic component to a substrate.
2. State of the Art
In the fabrication of electronic devices, a variety of electronic components may be utilized. A number of these electronic components may be mounted to a substrate, which is used in the fabrication of the electronic device. Some of these electronic components are xe2x80x9cthrough-hole mountxe2x80x9d (THM) components, wherein leads of the electronic components extend through and are attached to the substrate. The electronic components may be active or passive, and may include, but are not limited to, crystals, oscillators capacitors, diodes, resistors, and inductors. Within this application, the term xe2x80x9csubstratexe2x80x9d is defined to include motherboards, peripheral cards, cartridges, multi-chip module substrates, non-printed circuit board products, and similar structures, as will be evident to one skilled in the art.
FIG. 13 illustrates an electronic component 202 having a component body 204 and a pair of leads 206 extending therefrom. Generally, as shown in FIG. 14, such electronic components 202 are attached to a substrate 208 by forming plated vias 212, as known in the art, through the substrate 208, wherein the plated vias 212 are attached to traces (not shown) that make contact with other electrical components (not shown). The leads 206 of the electronic component 202 are inserted into the plated vias 212, such that they penetrate through the substrate 208. The component leads 206 are bent such that the component body 204 resides against the substrate 208. The component leads 206 may be bent prior to or after insertion into the plated vias 212. The component leads 206 are attached to the plated vias 212 using solder 214 applied by a wave solder process, as known in the art. The component body 204 may be secondarily attached to the substrate with an adhesive (not shown) and/or with a wire 218 (which encompasses the component body 204 and extends through the substrate 208). The wave soldering of the component leads 206 also secures the wire 218. It is, of course, understood that the secondary attachment is merely optional.
Another variation (not shown), as is known in the art, is for the component leads to be fashioned such that a portion of each component lead lies in contact with the substrate when the electronic component is surface mounted to the substrate. However, as will be known to one skilled in the art, these components are difficult to attach to the substrate due to their non-symmetrical configuration which requires placement offsets, due to the fragility of the component leads, and/or due to the round package configuration which may require special vacuum nozzles on the xe2x80x9cpick and placexe2x80x9d assembly equipment.
However, regardless of the configuration, the process of bending the component leads 206 results in substantial stresses on the seals (not shown) through which the component leads 206 enter the component body 204. These stresses may result in the fracturing of the seals, which can result in moisture infiltration that can have a performance impact, damage, or even destroy the electronic component 202. Furthermore, improper installation of the electronic component 202 may result in crossed component leads 206 that may render the electronic component 202 inoperable. Moreover, bending the component leads 206 requires additional fabrication step and costs to the process.
It is also known in the art that electronic components can be placed in a housing 222 to protect the electronic components, as shown in FIG. 15. These electronic component housings 222 may include a chamber 224 for receiving the electronic component and channels 226 for receiving electronic component leads 228. Such electronic component housings 222 may be obtained from Chicago Miniature Lamp, Inc. of Hackensack, N.J., USA.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to develop apparatus and techniques to effectively attach an electronic component to a substrate, which lessens or eliminates the problems discussed above.